Asensio needs to be the player to fill the void should Bale leave the club. He's demonstrated he has the quality and determination to reach the top.
I think its beyond any doubt now that Bale is a very injury prone player that can't be relied upon. It has gone way beyond the threshold where one can attribute it to bad luck. You simply can't make a player like this a cornerstone of your team.
Since his idol is CR7 and he obviously copies him.. Ronaldo would also be injured often instead of pretty much never. Bale will lose pace rapidly (hehe) like Ronaldo did,that's for sure.
oh yes you can. you just need to score one or two important goals and its enough for the Perez marketing machine to make him the most important player in the team.
That's the flip side. Marketing side vs. the sporting side. Again, we all know Bale's qualities. He can be a super star marketing wise. He's good enough to build a team around, but he's too unreliable to.
"Real Madrid playmaker Gareth Bale is set to miss tonight's match with a calf problem but on this day in 2013, the Football Writers' Association voted the then Tottenham maestro as its Footballer of the Year." - BBC How things have changed...
He really shouldn't start in the final, would be a ridiculous decision in my opinion. COPE: Bale is fast improving & Real Madrid are optimistic but won't take any risks. He may get minutes vs Malaga but the aim is Cardiff.— M•A•J (@UltraSuristic_) May 12, 2017
Him starting on the final makes it even more rediculous, considering ZZ will have to bench Isco/Asensio/James, who are on the top form of their career. We 'll probably witness another "El Clasico" case again, with him starting.
Suarez won it after Bale did though. I would not start Bale in any of the remaining matches now, but the lengths some people go to make it look like Bale is a hack is compeltely immature.
There is one way wherein both Isco and Bale can start. If Carvajal is still injured come the final, we can always have Bale play RB or move Marcelo to the right (considering that he is pretty good with his right as well) and move Bale back to his original LB position.
There is no way Bale doesn't start this final. I've seen plenty of Welsh sport sites hype his return. Banners of his face outside the stadium. And I'm pretty sure I've seen an Adidas commercial about the game with him as well (or it could have been our other players, I just glanced over it). If he starts, we'll probably see a repeat of our last 2 finals where the subs end up making the difference. His best bet would be to call it a season, relax, and come back rejuvenated and healthy for the 2017-2018 season. He keeps forcing himself back before being fit which can't be healthy for him in the long run.
A more serious option for Zidane (though he is unlikely to consider it), is to start Bale in place of Benzema rather than in place of Isco, if Bale is actually fit. Bale has a significantly higher volume of tackles/interceptions/duels won/fouls won than Benzema in the CL this season per 90 minutes, while being an almost equal level goal threat, although he does worse in terms of chance creation and pass completion. If deployed in his preferred position on the left though, simply his and Marcelo's presence on that wing and the overload it creates offensively, could make Allegri keep Alves pulled back, thus helping both offensively as well as defensively. Not to mention, Bale's motivation levels to make a difference and win the cup would be off the charts. As a goalscoring threat who is also strong defensively (when he does concentrate on doing it), I think he is a rare player in our team which has specialists in either the one or the other (apart from our amazing fullbacks), and as such can prove an immense help towards breaking down the relatively tough Juventus defence without really sacrificing our own defensive capability. If we are still not able to get the breakthrough or end up trailing we can always bring in Morata/James and Asensio/Benzema later on to get the winner/equaliser, by subbing out Bale and Isco.
I don't want Bale walking into the final, but if he's legitimately healthy and ready to go it's not like we are going to lose because of him. I'm more worried about the potential wasted sub. I think Bale and Ronaldo would cause a lot of problems aerially for Juve's CBs. Crossing or a set piece will be our best chance of scoring anyway. Juve won't allow anything through the middle.
He should come on as a sub if we are really desperate for a goal. He shouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11.
Its really sad that it go to the stage where we hope our most expensive signing in history doesn't get back in time for the CL final. haha
Pretty impossible scenario, considering that I don't recall Bale playing as a RB on his career. Bale vs Alves would be catastrophic as the Welshman might as well end up as Monaco's defenders. He hasn't ever started/played as a defender on us so there are like zero chances this is going to happen, even if we have injuries.
Agreed , matches the lengths some people went to to make it look like he was on a Ronaldo ,Messi level, it all balances itself out eventually I suppose Again I would be completely surprised if he did not start, just like I would be surprised if he left after this season, everyone knows what I think of this player but the people that actually matter in the club value him very highly I think, and they make the decisions
I saw a lot of running and running and running, very very active, but the player IMO that actually made things happen in that Welsh team was Aaron Ramsey